Title: The Kingdom of the Heavens: The Story of God
Author: Eliu Cortes
Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1643615912
Pages: 648
Genre: Religion
Reviewed by: Aaron Washington
Hollywood Book Reviews
Reading The Kingdom of the Heavens: The Story of God will have you question a lot of things in life. Religion is a major part of the lives of many today. People subscribe to different religious denominations for various reasons. Religion acts as a moral compass for some, a backbone for believers and a way of life for all Christians. The creation story is one of the many narratives believed by Christians world over. In this book, the author narrates how the Universe started in flawless coordination with God. The difference between the author’s way of narrating the story of God and past narrations is that the author added a few details to his story to make it more interesting and significant. Eliu Cortes starts by taking the reader sixty million years back, long before the era of Adam and Eve.
Eliu Cortes uses fictitious names for the characters in the book. God, for instance, is named ‘Yakamal’. ‘Doyah’ is the fictional name of God the Son, which means coming from the Father and the word. I appreciate the author’s decision to have fictitious names as the book is religion-fiction. It would be confusing had the author not indicated the meaning of the names at the beginning of the book as one would assume that Lucifer, for example, has always represented the devil. Lucifer in the book meant God’s Light Bringer or the Carrier of God’s Light. The author’s play with words in the naming of the characters was genius.
This book enabled me to imagine the world before the creation story. Reading through the pages was an exciting experience as I pictured how life was before the first chapter of Genesis. God is mysterious. This book does not explain the mystery that is the almighty but tries to make the reader learn a few things about God and his powers. Even with the odd storyline about life before Genesis One, God remained to be above everyone. This goes to show that there is nothing that has ever existed to be more superior than God himself. The Beginning of the Ages was a strange era. This period saw the existence of traitors and frustrations among the angels.
Unlike the popular Bible narrative which shows how the devil disobeyed God and thus led to his banishment from heaven, this book tells that Satan tried to get hold of the Forbidden Books so that he could foresee the future and defeat God. The battle of good versus evil still exists. This book tells the story of God from a non-mainstream perspective.
The Kingdom of the Heavens: The Story of God is a great Christian book that is both fascinating and intriguing. The stories the author wrote about are enthralling. I like how Eliu Cortes explained the difference between angels and demons. Going through the chapters gives one clarity about some things which are not clearly stated in holy scriptures. I commend the author for his brilliant writing style and delivery of his tales.